This invention relates to ribbon winders, and more particularly to a machine for automatically winding spools of typewriter ribbon.
Prior art ribbon winders, tape winders, and so on, usually require considerable manual assistance during operation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,789 shows a tape winding system requiring manual threading, starting, and termination of the winding operation. The ribbons must be firmly attached to the spool center for winding and to assure that they do not slip off the spool as the ribbon is later unwound. Some ribbons must also have eyelets near each end for tripping the reversing mechanisms of their typewriters. Additionally, the ribbon material is manufactured in bulk, coming in continuous lengths which contain occasional splices. While such splices are an ordinary feature of the bulk roles, the splices are not acceptable on the final typewriter ribbon spools. The splices must be detected and the spools having them must be discarded.
These limitations considerably restrict the rate at which an operator can wind spools. Even with power driven winding devices, a skilled operator using conventional machinery can wind only approximately 300-800 spools without eyelets in an 8 hour day. If eyelets are required, they are inserted by hand, slowing the operation even further.
A need thus exists for an automatic ribbon winder which requires less operator participation and which can run proportionally faster. Ideally, such a machine should automatically thread, wind, and cut the ribbon on each spool, insert eyelets where desired, and automatically reject spools containing splices.